Category: Shale Oil

Graph of type of estimated natural gas and crude oil production in four countries in 2014, as explained in the article text Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration calculations with data from DrillingInfo, Canadian National Energy Board, Cedigaz, Fact Global Energy China Monthly, Chevron, and Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Note: Actual production from Canada through October 2014. November and December 2014 totals estimated. Canadian shale gas production total includes the Montney formation. Republished February 13, 2015, 10:30 a.m. to clarify China and Argentina’s production of shale gas and tight oil, respectively. The United States, Canada, China, and Argentina are currently the only four countries in the world that are producing commercial volumes of either natural gas from shale formations (shale gas) or crude oil from tight formations (tight oil). The United States is by far the dominant producer of both shale gas and tight oil. Canada is the only other country […]

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When rig count fall feeds through to output, prices should rally Floor hands Jose Garza, left, Jose Salinas, center, and Omar Cano make a pipe connection on Orion Drilling Co.’s Perseus drilling rig near Encinal in Webb County, Texas, U.S., on Monday, March 26, 2012. The Perseus is drilling for oil and gas in the Eagle Ford Shale, a sedimentary rock formation underlying an area of South and East Texas. Photographer: Eddie Seal/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Jose garza; Jose Salinas; Omar Cano T he surge in US shale oil production over the past five years has been truly phenomenal, but the notion that it was ushering in a new age of global oil abundance was always overdone and is looking more exaggerated by the day. One need only look at the trend in the number of rigs drilling for oil in the US — as published weekly in […]

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The North Dakota Industrial Commission has released the  Bakken and North Dakota  monthly production numbers for December 2014. There was a bit of a surprise as Bakken and all North Dakota production was up just over 39,000 barres per day. Bakken BPD Since Bakken production was up at almost the exact same amount as the rest of North Dakota, (Bakken up 39,080 kbd vs. 39,086 bpd for ND), suggest that all the wells being brought on line are Bakken and Three Forks rather than conventional wells. Bakken Change The North Dakota change per month, 12 month trailing average reached a new high in December of 25,006 barrels per day. That means North Dakota oil production was up an average of 25 thousand barrels per day every month in 2014. From the Director’s Cut : Nov Oil 35,647,735 barrels = 1,188,258 barrels/day Dec Oil 38,047,667 barrels = 1,227,344 barrels/day (preliminary)(NEW […]

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A drill pusher uses a torch to cut the top off a 50-gallon metal drum on an oil drilling site. The number of oil rigs drilling new wells in the U.S. has collapsed at an unprecedented rate. The weekly number has gathered a huge following as investors try to figure out when the crash in oil prices has reached its bottom. Strangely, the number may be irrelevant. Baker Hughs Weekly Rig Count Rig counts have long been used to help predict future oil and gas production. In the past week drillers idled 98 rigs, marking the 10th consecutive decline. The total U.S. rig count is down 30 percent since October, an unprecedented retreat. The theory goes that when oil rigs decline, fewer wells are drilled, less new oil is discovered, and oil production slows.  But production isn’t slowing yet. In fact, last week the U.S. pumped more crude than at any time since the 1970s. “The headline U.S. oil rig count […]

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Occidental Bakken Acreage|Click to Enlarge The Bakken-Three Forks rig count decreased by nine t0 126 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week. In recent Bakken news, Occidental announced it will scale back its 2015 capital spending by 33 percent to $5.8 billion from $8.7 billion spent in 2014. In addition to the cuts, the company will also be reducing its activity in the Bakken. Read more: Occidental Petroleum Reduced 2015 Capex by 33% The U.S. rig count fell another 98 to 1358 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 300 rigs were targeting natural gas (down 14 from the previous week) and 1056 were targeting oil in the U.S. (84 less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 129 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across MT, ND, and SD. […]

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Washington (Platts)–13Feb2015/325 pm EST/2025 GMT A combination of low oil prices and tumbling rig counts is assisting North Dakota operators in complying with a state mandate to reduce flaring of associated natural gas production, the state’s top oil and gas official said Friday. "It has helped," said Lynn Helms, director of North Dakota’s Department of Mineral Resources. "It has given companies some breathing room to be able to achieve gas capture goals more easily." On Friday, Helms announced that oil and gas production had reached an all-time high in North Dakota in December, climbing to nearly 1.23 million b/d and 1.51 Bcf/d, respectively. But the pace of production growth has slowed and will likely flatten in 2015 due to low oil and gas prices and falling rig counts, Helms said. The state’s rig count fell to 137 on Friday, its lowest level since July 2010 and a 37% drop […]

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NEW YORK, Feb 13 (Reuters) – North Dakota’s shale oil production appears to have reached a plateau after a renewed rise at the end of last year, the state’s top oil official said on Friday, a sign that the U.S. oil boom might be slowing sooner than expected. Oil production in the No. 2 producing state rose nearly 40,000 barrels per day to 1.23 million bpd in December, resuming its years-long rise after three flat months, monthly data from the state’s Industrial Commission showed on Friday. Many forecasters, including the U.S. government, expect overall U.S. production to continue rising until the middle of this year, despite a sharp fall in drilling rigs, as increased efficiency and a focus on sweet spots maintains the shale boom that has raised U.S. output by nearly 70 percent in the last five years. Lynn Helms, the state’s head of Department of Mineral Resources […]

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(Bloomberg) — Apache Corp.’s decision to sharply curb the growth of its oil output this year suggests that the major U.S. shale producers who helped create a global oil glut will be able to reduce supplies faster than expected. One of the biggest operators in Texas’ prolific Permian basin, Apache will cut the number of rigs it uses to drill for oil by 70 percent by the end of the month, the company said in a statement today. That’s going to slow output enough to keep overall production flat for the year, compared with the Houston-based company’s November forecast for growth of as much as 12 percent. Unlike huge, billion-dollar oil developments taking place elsewhere, U.S. shale producers surprised the world with their speed in ramping up production. That nimbleness means they’ll also be able to slow down quickly, said Tyler Priest, a historian at the University of Iowa […]

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